Stone Academy opens for free tours

[youtube] https://youtu.be/Z0zgJ_ks3vc [/youtube]

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – The Stone Academy in Putnam opened their doors to the public for free tours of the historic building on Saturday.

The Putnam area has a long history connected to the abolitionist movement. Muskingum County History trustee Peter Cultice said in the 1800s Putnam was a separate town from Zanesville. Residents of Zanesville were often pro-slavery, while their neighbors to the south were mainly anti-slavery.

Saturday they showed residents a historical side of Zanesville they may never of know about.

“This building here, which was built in 1809, was built primarily to entice the state government to move the state capital here. Putnam was having a competition with Zanesville and they did until Putnam became a part of Zanesville. It didn’t work. Zanesville became the capital from 1810-1812,” said Cultice.

Cultice said they try to open the doors to the Stone Academy once a year to provide free tours. Guests had a chance to see period artwork, historical documents, and a secret compartment used to hide run away slaves.

“A lot of people have lived in the area but they have never been here before,” said Cultice. So they’ll take this opportunity because we are having an event here.”

To see a complete list of upcoming events put on by Muskingum County History you can visit their website at www.muskingumcountyhistory.com.